Community Based Fish Culture Research Articles

Impacts of community-based fish culture in seasonal floodplains on income, food security and employment in Bangladesh

This paper examines the impact of community based fish culture in seasonal floodplains on fish production, consumption, income, and food security of the participating households in Bangladesh. An analysis was performed using a randomly selected 46 % of the households from the three project and control floodplains; data were collected using longitudinal surveys on a seasonally, quarterly and monthly basis for the years 2007, 2008 and 2009. Fish production, income and food security of the participating households was improved due to the adoption of an equitable and inclusive multi-stakeholder approach introduced by the project. Average fish production increased from 124 kg/ha/yr. to 464 kg/ha/yr. The introduced community-based fish culture approach generated 3.74 times more fish income for households in the project sites in comparison to the control sites. Per capita monthly fish consumption increased from 1.26 kg to 2.31 kg in the project sites, which was 32 % higher than the control sites. Project implementation reduced the vulnerability of local beneficiaries, particularly of the landless and poor fishermen, by creating additional fishing opportunity for up to 6 months of the year. Promotion of the community based fish culture in seasonal floodplains may thus be useful in bringing about positive changes in the overall floodplain productivity and livelihood gains for the poor people of Bangladesh.

Impact of the Community‐based Fish Culture System on Expenditure and Inequality: Evidence from Bangladesh

AbstractThis study investigated the impact of a Community‐based Fish Culture (CBFC) system on household expenditure and how expenditure inequality in the fish‐producing communities has changed due to involvement in the CBFC system. Six floodplains, comprising three project sites and three controls, were chosen from three river basin areas of Bangladesh; data for this study were collected for a period of 3 yr. A propensity score matching method was used to evaluate the impact of CBFC on household expenditure; while a Gini coefficient and Gini decomposition were used to estimate inequality. The results show that the CBFC system has a positive and significant impact on fish culture community household expenditure. Results also reveal that the CBFC system has an equalization effect on food, clothing, and healthcare expenditure. Furthermore, this management system helps to distribute total expenditure 15% more equally among the fish culture communities.

Water productivity for Boro Rice production: study on floodplain Beels in Rajshahi, Bangladesh

Context: Water productivity is considered as an important indicator of Agriculture productivity because of the scarcity of freshwater. More yield or output against same or less amount of water has become the global interest. Objectives: This study measures the productivity of water on the floodplain land in terms of Boro rice cultivation for two floodplain beels in Rajshahi Bangladesh. Materials & Methods: For this study, the production and market price data were collected by direct observation based on 30 samples in the year 2006-07. Results: This study found gross water productivity of rice yield as 0.47 kg m-3 in beel Mail and 0.43 kg m-3 in beel Chandpur. In monetary value, water productivity per cubic meter irrigation water were TK 5.65, TK 3.42 and TK 2.64 based on gross return, net return considering cash costs and net return considering full costs in beel Mail. In beel Chandpur these values were TK 5.19 m-3, TK 2.87 m-3 and TK 2.14 m-3, respectively. The usage of average irrigated water in the boro rice farms were estimated 10730.05 m-3 and 11236 m-3 with an average production of yield 4992.95 kg and 4783.20 kg in beel Mail and beel Chandpur. Statistical result shows that keeping irrigation water constant, a 1% increase of boro rice yield will increase water productivity at 0.916% in beel Mail and 0.972% in beel Chandpur. The water productivity in beel Mail was 4.65% higher than beel Chandpur due to the intervention of community based fish culture management. Conclusion: The findings of this study will help to govern and improve production by proper utilizing floodplain lands. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/jbs.v21i0.22526 J. bio-sci. 21: 123-136, 2013

Present Status and Approaches for the Sustainable Development of Community Based Fish Culture in Seasonal Floodplains of Bangladesh

Coordination among the different stakeholders at policy planning, implementation and target beneficiary level, particularly among the agencies responsible for development and management of water resources, agriculture and fisheries, is essential for overall sustainable development. Stocking of larger fingerlings at suitable stocking densities of endemic (rohu, catla, mrigal) and exotic (silver carp, bighead carp, common carp/mirror carp) species should be stocked at varying proportion. Floodplain fish production depends only on the natural fertility of the water bodies. Technological interventions should include the installation of low cost bamboo fencing at water inlet and outlet points and setting of ring culverts for maintaining suitable levels of water for fish culture without hampering the production of rice and other crops in the intervention areas, selective stocking with native and exotic carps, restricted fishing for certain period of time and guarding. It is expected to exert positive influences in enhancing the standing crop and biodiversity of non-stocked species of fishes in the intervention seasonal floodplain. Entry of fish larvae, hatchlings and young fry of wild non-stocked fishes into the seasonal floodplains because of large fence spacing (approximately 1.0 cm), could restrict fishing for certain period, undisturbed habitat and guarding could contribute to higher productivity and enhancement of fish biodiversity in the seasonal floodplains. Proper motivation and effective cooperation of the beneficiaries are extremely important to culture fish in the seasonal floodplains under community based management system. Institutional support and constant vigilance from the Department of Fisheries (DoF) and local administrations are indispensable to ensure the sustainability of fish culture initiatives in the seasonal floodplains. Active participation and involvement of the local community people in all stages of fish culture operation beginning from selection of floodplains, formation of floodplain management committee, planning of fish culture activities, exercise of technical intervention, selective stocking with large fingerlings, guarding, monitoring and supervision, adopting harvesting strategies, marketing and distribution of benefits are extremely essential to ensure sustainability of the program. Mutual trust, sense of respect and good working relationship among the committee members are the basic social elements required for the success of community based fish culture initiatives.

Multiple water use as an approach for increased basin productivity and improved adaptation: a case study from Bangladesh

This study, supported by the Challenge Program Water and Food (CPWF-Project 35), demonstrates the case of multiple-use of water through seasonal aquaculture interventions for improved rice–fish production systems in the Bangladesh floodplains. The project focused on community-based fish culture initiatives, increasingly adopted in the agro-ecological zones of the major floodplains of the Padma, Testa, and Brahmaputra basin. The productivity of water and fish is used as an indicator to explain this case. We hypothesize that seasonal aquaculture supported by the management of floodplains for multiple-use of water can significantly increase the productivity of rice–fish systems. Recognizing the need for innovative ways to manage human-dominated landscapes and climate-sensitive ecosystems such as floodplains, we have analysed seasonal aquaculture interventions along with local adaptation of water management strategies, including the consideration of groundwater mechanisms. The results, supported by quantitative analysis and qualitative arguments, demonstrate the significant contribution of seasonal aquaculture in improving the rice–fish production systems of the selected floodplain sites. This was achieved through the increased productivity of water and fish and the reduction of the risk posed by arsenic contamination. The study is also illustrative of the diversification in livelihood-generating activities to cope with the extended period of flooding cycle in the region. We highlight the value of multiple resource-use approaches to enhance the social and ecological resilience of floodplains, and the need to re-consider basin water management options to recognize the water requirements of other sources of food such as fish produced by capture fisheries and aquaculture.

Institutional Arrangements in Seasonal Floodplain Management under Community-based Aquaculture in Bangladesh

Seasonal floodplains under private and public ownership in the Indo-Ganges river basin provide food and income for millions of people in Bangladesh. Floodplain ownership regimes are diverse, covering the whole spectrum from public to private ownership. The paper compares community-based fish culture projects in these floodplains and analyzes the institutional arrangements of three different Floodplain Management Committees (FMC). The paper aimed to understand the complex institutional relations that govern ownership, access, and control of the floodplains under community-based fish culture (CBFC) to increase fish production and the livelihoods of the poor. We followed the stakeholders representing the various institutions and organizations such as the Department of Fisheries (DoF), Department of Land (DoL), and FMC. Other important stakeholders were the lease-holders of public water bodies in the floodplains, private landowners, seasonal, and professional fishers. The analysis demonstrates a significant increase of benefits to all stakeholders, including the poor, through the sharing of benefits derived from their involvement in the project. The willingness of different social classes to work together, the adoption of new technologies, and the societal embeddedness of local government institutions appear to be important inputs for policy making.

Socio-economic Impact of Community Based Fish Culture on Seasonal Floodplain <i>Beel</i> - A Comparative Study

Beel Mail is a 100 ha seasonal floodplain beel where community based fish culture was introduced during rainy season with 73 community members by department of fisheries with the funding support of WorldFish Center in year 2006. Socio-economic impact of this management was compared with control beel Chandpur. Beel Chandpur is 200 ha seasonal floodplain beel where also 16 landowner part time fishermen introduced fish culture during flooding. Beel Mail was stocked with 34.93 kg ha-1 fish fingerlings and beel Chandpur was stocked with 9.68 kg ha-1. Fish was harvested after about 6 months culture period and it was noticed that the gross production was about 4.7 times higher in the project site than the control site. Farmers obtained TK 7481.23 ha-1 as net return based on production cost in beel Mail and TK 3261.90 ha-1 as net return based on production cost in beel Chandpur. Average fish consumption increased by 20.49% in project site. In addition, future stocking and saving fund for fishermen society were established and sharing of benefit from fish culture was more evenly distributed between landowners and landless fishermen in project site than control beel. Keywords: Beel; Landowner; Landless; Community based fisheries management. © 2010 JSR Publications. ISSN: 2070-0237 (Print); 2070-0245 (Online). All rights reserved. DOI: 10.3329/jsr.v2i2.3430 J. Sci. Res. 2 (2), 369-379 (2010)

Increased Income from Seasonally Flooded Rice Fields through Community Based Fish Culture in Bangladesh and Vietnam

In extensive river floodplains and deltaic lowlands, floods lasting several months render the land unavailable for crop (often rice) production during the rainy season. Aside from crop production during the flood-free dry season, the land area can be utilized for fish production during the flood season. This can be done by enclosing parts of these floodwater areas to produce a crop of stocked fish aside from the naturally occurring ‘wild’ species. The WorldFish Center and its national partners recently tested (1) concurrent rice-fish culture in the shallower flooded areas and (2) alternating rice and fish culture in the deep-flooded areas of Bangladesh and Vietnam through a community-based management system. This paper presents the key results of this work, focusing on the economics of existing land use patters and the impact of community based fish culture on rice yields and income. Rice production was maintained, or even enhanced. Fish production was increased beyond the wild catch by about 600 kg/ha/year in shallow-flooded areas and up to 1.5 t/ha/year in deep-flooded areas, without reduction in wild fish catch. For the overall system on an annual basis, an additional income ranging from US$ 135 per hectare in southern Vietnam to US$ 437 per hectare in Bangladesh was achieved, which is an increase of 20 to 85 percent over the profitability of the previous systems involving cropping and fish capture. The results indicate that community-based fish culture in rice fields is technically feasible, economically profitable, environmentally non-destructive, and socially acceptable.

ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY OF COMMUNITY-BASED FISH CULTURE IN SEASONALLY FLOODED RICE FIELDS IN BANGLADESH AND VIETNAM

ABSTRACT During the rainy season in extensive river floodplains and deltaic lowlands, floods lasting several months render the land unavailable for crop production for several months each year. These waters are considerably underutilized in terms of managed aquatic productivity. This raises the opportunity to enclose parts of these annually occurring floodwater areas to produce a crop of specifically stocked aquatic organisms aside from the naturally occurring ‘wild’ species that are traditionally fished and are not affected by the culture activity, overall resulting in more high-quality, nutrient-dense food production and enhanced farm income for all stakeholders, notably the poor. The WorldFish Center and its national partners recently tested two systems in a community based management approach in Bangladesh and Vietnam: (i) concurrent rice-fish culture in shallower flooded areas, and (ii) alternating rice and fish culture in the deep-flooded areas. Results indicate that community-based fish culture in rice fields is technically feasible, economically viable and socially acceptable. It can increase fish production to about 600 kg/ha/year in shallow flooded areas and up to 1.5 t/ha/year in deep-flooded areas, without reduction in rice yield and wild fish catch. For the overall system and in the trials conducted, an additional income of US$135 per ha in southern Vietnam, and up to US$437 per ha in Bangladesh were achieved, which is an increase of 20%to 85% over the previous profitability. The communities neighboring the trial sites have been adopting the technologies widely.